Agenda item

Report of the Director of Public Protection, Streetscene and Community. 

1.            Approval granted that the Council’s stray dog pick up service be provided through an external contractor should out of hours neighbourhood officer cover be unavailable and that this service element is included in the forthcoming procurement of a kennel provider.

2.            That subject to discretionary waiver in exceptional circumstances and on a case by case basis to be determined by the Director following written representation to the Council by the dog owner, approval be granted to an increase in the kennel release charge from £32.50 to £80 for owners who wish to recover their dogs from the Council and the per day kennelling costs to be met by the dog owner on release and recovery of the dog at the daily kennelling fee agreed between the Council and the kennel provider.

The report of the Director of Public Protection, Streetscene and Community was presented by the Executive Leader.

The report advised Members of the current and proposed arrangements for dealing with stray dogs and sought agreement to a revision in service provision and charges.

The Council has a long standing stray pick up dog service that includes the use of an external kennel contractor to retain dogs for the statutory 7 day period whilst the owner is traced of comes forward to claim their dog.  The current kennel contract ends in March 2016, providing the authority with an opportunity to review its current arrangements. A number of kennel providers are now offering a stray dog collection service and although this service is currently part of the neighbourhood officer’s duties, around 30% of collections are dealt with outside of normal Council hours, incurring additional costs to the Council. It was therefore proposed to include this element of the service within the new procurement specification.

Currently the Council makes a charge to dog owners seeking to reclaim their dogs that have been picked up as strays. This charge is made up of a flat rate release fee of £32.50 plus the kennel costs incurred during the dogs stay in kennels. Currently these amount to £10 per day up to the statutory maximum stay of seven days (£70).

Other authorities make a significantly greater charge which is inclusive of the maximum kennelling costs (up to seven days) irrespective of length of stay as well as a release fee. It was considered that a flat rate charge at this level would reflect more accurately the cost in officer time and administration for dealing with a stray dog and the report proposed amending the charging structure to reflect this in line with neighbouring authorities.

Any charge may be subject to a discretionary waiver in exceptional circumstances and on a case by case basis to be determined by the Director following written representation to the Council by the dog owner”

As part of the Councils commitment to tackling stray dogs, the authority would continue the provision of a microchipping service free of charge to any Chorley resident, encourage dog owners to neuter their dogs and the offer of a transfer service for dog owners who no longer want to keep their dog, facilitated through kennel contacts, dog rescue centres and local contacts.

Decision:

1.         Approval granted that the Council’s stray dog pick up service be provided through an external contractor should out of hours neighbourhood officer cover be unavailable and that this service element is included in the forthcoming procurement of a kennel provider.

2.         That subject to discretionary waiver in exceptional circumstances and on a case by case basis to be determined by the Director following written representation to the Council by the dog owner, approval be granted to an increase in the kennel release charge from £32.50 to £80 for owners who wish to recover their dogs from the Council and the per day kennelling costs to be met by the dog owner on release and recovery of the dog at the daily kennelling fee agreed between the Council and the kennel provider.

Reasons for recommendation(s)

To ensure the Council has a stray dog service appropriate to meet demand with a charging scheme that reflects actual costs incurred and is commensurate with neighbouring local authorities.

Alternative option(s) considered and rejected

Retain the current means of stray dog service operation without testing the market and retain the current charges for the release of kennelled dogs.